diff --git a/services/playout/src/playout-manager.js b/services/playout/src/playout-manager.js
index 5609e09..e1562c4 100644
--- a/services/playout/src/playout-manager.js
+++ b/services/playout/src/playout-manager.js
@@ -159,24 +159,33 @@ export class PlayoutManager {
   }
 
   // Low-bitrate HLS for the web UI preview. Segments land in the shared media
-  // volume; the mam-api serves /live/<channel_id>/* from there.
+  // volume; the mam-api serves /media/live/<channel_id>/* from there.
   async _addHlsConsumer() {
-    // mkdir is done by the entrypoint; CasparCG's ffmpeg consumer creates the
-    // playlist on first segment. 2s segments / 6-window list keeps lag low
-    // without thrashing disk.
-    // FILE keyword (alias of the FFMPEG consumer) writing a segmented HLS
-    // playlist. Same arg rules as the STREAM consumer: -param:stream form and a
-    // format=yuv420p filter ahead of libx264 (channel output is RGBA).
+    // The CasparCG channel feeds this consumer in real time, and its frame
+    // timestamps are irregular ("packet with pts X has duration 0" warnings).
+    // With frame-count GOPs (-g 60) the HLS muxer split points drift, producing
+    // erratic segment durations (0.4s–4.2s) and TARGETDURATION violations. The
+    // result is a live playlist hls.js parses but can never sync to — it
+    // reloads forever ("sliding 0.00 / prev-sn na / MISSED") and never appends
+    // a fragment, so the preview stays black.
+    //
+    // Fix: force a constant output frame rate (-r, regenerates uniform PTS) and
+    // TIME-based keyframes every 2s (-force_key_frames) so every segment is a
+    // clean, keyframe-aligned 2.0s chunk. This yields a spec-compliant playlist
+    // (TARGETDURATION 2, stable 8-segment / 16s window) identical in shape to
+    // the capture/VOD HLS the rest of the app already plays.
     const out = `${HLS_DIR}/index.m3u8`;
     const args = [
       `FILE "${out}"`,
       '-format hls',
       '-hls_time 2',
-      '-hls_list_size 6',
-      '-hls_flags delete_segments+append_list',
+      '-hls_list_size 8',
+      '-hls_flags delete_segments+append_list+independent_segments',
       '-codec:v libx264 -preset:v veryfast -tune:v zerolatency -b:v 800k -maxrate 1M -bufsize 2M',
-      '-g 60 -keyint_min 60 -sc_threshold 0',
-      '-codec:a aac -b:a 96k',
+      // 29.97 CFR confidence feed: -r forces constant frame rate (fixes the
+      // duration-0 PTS), -force_key_frames pins keyframes to 2s media boundaries.
+      '-r 30000/1001 -force_key_frames expr:gte(t,n_forced*2) -sc_threshold 0',
+      '-codec:a aac -b:a 96k -ar 48000',
       '-filter:v format=yuv420p',
     ].join(' ');
     await this.amcp.send(`ADD ${CHANNEL} ${args}`);